1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods for controlling burrowing animals.
2. Description of the Related Art
Burrowing animals, such as gophers, ground squirrels and the like, live underground in tunnels. Burrows made by such animals can cause substantial harm to landowners. For example, when a horse steps in a hole made by a burrowing animal, it can break its ankle In many cases, the burrows are unsightly and interfere with human activity. For example, burrows on golf courses detract from the aesthetics of the course and can cause damage to golf carts. Burrowing animals also cause substantial damage to crops and farm structures.
Depending on the type of burrowing rodent, an individual burrow can be 5 to 30 feet or more in length. Burrow sizes may range from 1 to 18 cubic feet. Some are short tunnels, but others have many branches and often with two or more openings to the above ground surface. The tunnels are interconnected and lead to small and very large dens. The rodents construct nests of finely shredded grass or other materials in these underground dens. The dens are located on off shoot globular chambers slightly above and to one side of the main runway and tucked back in the burrow. The nests are a safe haven to the rodents
Most burrowing animals are rodents that reproduce at a high rate. Most such rodents have several litters each year and each litter produces numerous offspring. The gestation period of ground squirrels is 25 to 30 days and the normal litter is between 1 and 15. Also, ground squirrels may live five years or more in the wild.
The ground squirrel feeds chiefly on green herbage and the damage to truck crops, grain, nuts, or fruit crops from such animals each year is extensive. Ground squirrels significantly reduce the amount of green forage available to livestock. Most visible damage occurs when squirrels feed on the tender young sprouts of garden plants, grains of all types, landscape bushes, the fruit & nut tree roots of almonds, apples, apricots, peaches, pistachios, plumbs, oranges, tomatoes, walnuts and grape vineyard plant roots. Young orchards are damaged by the rodents gnawing on the bark of the young trees. Vegetables and field crops such as sugar beets, alfalfa, and cotton are eaten at the seedling stage. Rodents leave excrement and urine as they move through the fields and orchards contaminating the crops and creating a health concern to consumers. Burrowing Rodents also carry fleas, lice and diseases which are transferred to domestic animals and can spread throughout a property infecting humans as well. In addition to gnawing on young tree bark the burrowing rodent chew on plastic sprinkler heads and irrigation lines.
One of the most common methods for controlling burrowing animals is to poison them. Anticoagulants and other poisons used in bait stations, spot baiting and broadcast baiting requires repeated treatments However, such poisons have many disadvantages. For example, they are slow acting poisons, often requiring 5 to 15 days to take effect. During that time many ranch animals, family pets and unintended wild life can consume the poisoned rodent, slowly killing the animal that eats it. Use of toxic chemicals is unacceptable to any type of organic gardening. The Toxic Chemicals used in rodent Poisons are dangerous to the people and their families who store, use and handle them. Poison used to control burrowing rodents contaminates our ground water. Also, Poison bait will be ingested by other wild life and domestic animals causing death. Rodents killed with poison do not necessarily die in their burrows and their carcasses are often eaten by other wildlife such as eagles, red-tailed hawks, coyotes, fox, ranch or farm animals and domestic family pets.
Traps are also used to control rodents. However, many states require a trapping license to trap animals. It is also unlawful to transport and release many rodents without a permit, as doing so introduces such rodents to other environments.
Current methods of controlling burrowing animals include: poisoning, trapping, flooding, explosives and explosive gases. Poisoning burrowing animals is disadvantageous for several reasons including: poisoned rodents that die above ground are often eaten by birds, which become poisoned by eating the rodents; poisons set out for rodents might be consumed by other animals, such as pets; poisons harm the environment; and, even though a rodent is killed by a poison, its burrow still remains and can be re-inhabited by other rodents at a later date. Trapping prolongs the animals suffering, and there is a potential of trapping the wrong animal. Also, borrowing rodents avoid traps as a result of having seen trappe fellow rodents. Flooding does not work because other burrowing rodents will re-inhabit borrows as soon as the water is absorbed by the ground. Explosives and explosive gases are inherently dangerous to humans; often these explosives and gases ignite the surrounding grasses and fields causing the potential for deadly fire damage to property and animals in the area. Another problem with explosives is that they require highly trained people to handle such hazardous and flammable materials.
Therefore, there is a need for controlling burrowing animals that prevents reinhabitation of burrows by other animals.